Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

In post #5 he said that he can see that the port is not open. An adjustment of the brake pedal rod is the first thing to do to get necessary pedal free play and get the piston aligned with the port in the cylinder. If the adjustment does not do this then the master cylinder should be removed and the reason for this misalignment found. Once the master cylinder is functioning properly, then other steps can be taken to assure the rest of the system is working.

It sounds as though there are 2 problems contributing to the situation:.
1. The driver-side front drum grabbing could be
shoe adjustment,
fluid leaking from wheel cylinder onto drum and shoes
2. I vote also for the Master Cylinder pushrod being too tightly adjusted because -
1000 miles of OK service of master cylinder
the compensation port being visibly blocked by piston

On my Clipper I finally came to diagnose the Master Cylinder pushrod being too tight. It made the Master cylinder seize up, brakes stayed on, brake lights stayed on and car had obvious brake drag. This was especially bad in summer temperatures after
the engine was warm (30 to 100 miles of driving)
and master cylinder was warm
(and the driver was warm)

DanL

Quote:

This is exactly what happened to mine. It would partialy lock-up the brakes leaving the brake lights on after the car was warm. Not enough free play in linkage and M/C piston not returning.